Sassy Update - De-stressing...

Sassy went to the Vet yesterday.  We're trying to rule out medical problems in dealing with her bathroom issues.  I've read everything on the internet I can find about cats that won't use their cat box.  While she does use her cat box, she also uses other places.  She now seems to be focused on the rug in the living room.  We've placed a cat box on the rug and a waterproofed pad under it.  She is now using both the box and the pad.  So, we made an appointment with the Wyoming Veterinary Service in Wyoming, IL.  Dr. McFarland thoroughly tested her for anything that could medically cause problems (thyroid, kidney, liver, bladder, and a fecal test) and ruled her extremely healthy.

Our first course of action was Feliway.  Feliway is a synthetic copy of the feline facial pheromone, used by cats to mark their territory as safe and secure.  Their literature says their product will de-stress most cats.  Apparently stress in cats is hard to detect.  And she has had a stressful life.  First she was a stray, then locked up in a small cage for a month, the vet, and lastly, our house, medicine for her bacterial infection and salve for her eye infection along with the trip to Wisconsin.  Lots of changes since August 2.

We've really grown to love her.  She's energetic, funny, entertaining.  She loves to play with balls and feathers and rings from the milk jugs.  She purrs every time you touch her and while she's not trusting enough to climb on our laps, she doesn't run when you approach her as much as she used to.  She's curious and any time we're making noise she's there to find out why.  She's developed some really cute habits like following me into the bathroom, jumping into my tub and playing with the shower curtain.  I've dropped a ping pong ball in the tub and I hear her in there playing with it.  She also comes to bed with us and plays with our feet for a while.  Then she gets bored and leaves.  She doesn't sleep on our bed and can't be coaxed back up once she gets down.  She has just started letting me rub her belly once in a while and she makes these little chirping noises that are really cute.

We need to solve this problem, for her sake as much as ours. After discussion with Dr. McFarland, we've decided on the Feliway - one diffuser in each of the two rooms she spends the most time in and Kitty Prozac which she will take once a day.  I've read a lot about giving meds to your cat and the press is mostly positive.  The only other alternative is to lock her in a small room with her cat box for a couple of weeks.  Then periods out supervised until we have a period of time with no accidents.  We hate to have to lock her up.  She's already been through that at the shelter but we may have no choice.  I'll keep posting about our journey and if you have any ideas, be sure to share.